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Guest Editorial: 5 Horror Shows That Should Make A Comeback

Horror is all the rage these days, in cinema, on television, and even in literature. And frankly, fans of the genre can never have enough. There are always fresh ways to scare someone, and that means that new horror content will almost always be welcome. Then again, rehashed horror content can be a lot of fun too. And in recent years, we've seen some great horror shows that might not have been quite as good (or lasted quite as long) as we wanted.

With that in mind, here are five horror TV shows we'd like to see back on the air.

Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

We'll start off with a lighter horror program. Are You Afraid Of The Dark? was a Nickelodeon show aimed at a younger audience, but it had its spooky moments, to be sure. The show centered on a group of kids meeting in the woods to tell scary stories to one another, with the stories coming to life to form the bulk of each episode. The show ran for a number of years and probably taught a whole generation to be afraid of everything from axe murderers in the woods to clowns smoking cigars. You can still watch old episodes for free online, but it would be great to see this show come back to life with an all new slate of stories.

Tales From The Darkside

There have been a number of notable horror anthology series over the years, but this one was particularly impactful. During a five-year run on CBS, it exhibited a higher quality of storytelling than most similar programs, focusing not just on scares but on legitimate narrative intrigue. In part this was due to the fact that some excellent writers, including Stephen King, contributed to the series. The movie, in 1990, made for a nice follow-up, but it would be good to see some of the folks involved in the show bring it back with some of today's best horror writers.

Jekyll & Hyde

This is actually a far more recent show that aired on ITV in Britain for 10 episodes in 2015. However, it wasn't picked up for a second season, and once again the tale of Jekyll and Hyde feels strangely absent from pop culture, despite being one of history's most beloved horror tales. This site has a video game based on the series (or more accurately on the original novella), in which symbols relating to Jekyll and Hyde populate a slot machine reel. There are various bonuses and background images associated with the characters that players can enjoy while gaming for real money. But there's no TV series or even upcoming film related to the characters, which is a borderline unacceptable void in horror entertainment. It would be great to see someone pick up the concept of this 2015 series and run with it in a more ambitious attempt.

The Outer Limits

This list of horror shows that ought to make a comeback made a very bold claim about The Outer Limits, which was that it might be a better sci-fi/horror anthology than The Twilight Zone. The thing is, a lot of people agree! The Outer Limits put forth countless riveting episodes about unexplainable circumstances and creepy occurrences. The fact that these days people looking for sci-fi entertainment through sources like Ancient Aliens only emphasizes the need for the return of this series.

Scariest Places On Earth

This was more of a reality/documentary series, and in truth it was done in a fashion that now looks somewhat dated. Nevertheless, people love to hear about scary circumstances that actually exist in the real world, and there's certainly no shortage of creepy places that could serve as subject matter for future episodes. Lists like this one are all over the internet, highlighting just how many terrifying places there really are on Earth. A redesigned show exploring these places, telling their legends, and perhaps talking to people who live near the areas or have visited them could be very exciting.